TJP Staff
Z’man Simchateynu, “The Season of Our Joy,” the Jewish holidays of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah were marked by a cloud of pain, sadness and worry, Saturday, Oct. 7, as American Jews learned of the devastating attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Hundreds of innocent Israelis were killed, thousands injured and an unconfirmed number kidnapped and spirited into Gaza Oct. 7, 50 years and one day from the beginning of the Yom Kippur War.
Despite it being Shabbat, several Jewish institutions in North Texas issued statements to their members in the Jewish community to help process the tragedy, offer words of support and to make a clear statement that the North Texas Jewish community stands by its brothers and sisters in Israel.
Among those issuing statements were The Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, Beth-El Congregation, Congregation Shearith Israel and Temple Emanu-El.
In addition, on Saturday morning, the Dallas Federation’s Community Security Initiative alerted the leaders of Dallas area Jewish institutions that it was working with local law enforcement partners to monitor any specific threats to the Dallas area Jewish community. No threats were reported, and CSI continues to work with local law enforcement to ensure appropriate security measures are in place.
Saturday evening, the Dallas Federation announced an emergency campaign to support trauma centers in Israel in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Israel Trauma Coalition. Click here to support these efforts.
The Dallas Jewish Community Foundation (DJCF) is prepared to facilitate your grants in support of Israel. The Israel Trauma Center can be supported from your DJCF Donor Advised Fund by logging into the My DJCF portal or by emailing grants@djcf.org.
In addition, the Dallas Federation announced that there is a high-level briefing at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 8. The briefing is open to all community members. IDF, JAFI, and Federation leadership are expected to speak. Register for this webinar here.
To read the full text from each local organization or synagogue, click here.
The Texas Jewish Post is continuing to update www.tjpnews.com as news becomes available.
